Receptive Creativity: The Importance of Filling Your Creative Cup By Nicole Plumridge
Let’s welcome back Nicole Plumridge as she shares with us “Receptive Creativity: The Importance of Filling Your Creative Cup.” Enjoy!
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Receptive Creativity: What is it?
Most of us relate to creativity in terms of production.
We look for output.
A finished painting is proof of the creative process.
A published article validates the hours spent tapping away behind the screen.
A shiny ceramic mug with intricate artwork lacing the handle is unequivocally creativity at its best.
But what about gazing out of a window for an hour?
What about getting lost in the whispering pages of a favorite book?
Or watching a film, or going to an art gallery or for a walk in nature?
Do these activities qualify as creative?
It is my belief that not only do they qualify as creative, they are necessary components of the creative process.
Receptive creativity involves putting yourself in creative environments and allowing yourself to marinate in the creative juices.
It is filling your cup to the brim and letting the foam froth and drizzle over the edges.
It is where you allow yourself to notice, experience, and receive creative input — the necessary fodder for the eventual output.
Why is the Balance Skewed?
Expressive creativity is tangible.
It is a finished product.
And in a capitalist society obsessed with production and the bottom line, it is little wonder why creative output would be favored over the more ephemeral input.
We cannot equate visiting an art gallery or performing a poem at an open mic event with dollars — thus, according to the capitalist mechanics at work, these activities are useless.
Without the identification of a direct transaction with monetary value, the worth of an activity is questionable at best.
Creatives are already operating outside of the box, pushing against old systems that would have us quashed or molded to be another cog in the wheel.
But to be a creative who has spent several days dilly-dallying around historic houses and rose gardens with no sketch, word count, or poem to validate the experience — well, that’s simply blasphemous.
The Indulgence of Leading a Harmonious Life
We are trained early on that arts and crafts are for kids, hobbies are cute things to do on weekends, and playtime only comes after the homework has been completed.
To do things simply for enjoyment and pleasure is deemed lazy — wrong.
Evidence is necessary to prove that you haven’t wasted an afternoon.
However, this goes against the very nature of the creative life.
The creative life needs space.
It needs room to breathe.
There needs to be input before there can be wondrous output that we see in the galleries, museums, concert halls, and libraries.
Creative burnout, writer’s block, and simple day-to-day exhaustion are killers of creative projects.
The roots of these ailments may lie in the desperate attempts to pour from an aridly dry, cracked, and empty cup.
We need replenishment, inspiration, magic, and awe in order to channel our best work.
We need to be able to do things which energize our soul without exacting something in return.
Permission to Play
All roads lead to childhood and what we liked as children.
As children, before the world became so serious, we played.
We allowed curiosity to lead us to the next best game.
It is that same curiosity which needs to be remembered as an adult in order to live a creative life, and it is during quiet moments, time spent daydreaming to music or meditating, that the remembrance arrives with more ease.
We need to give ourselves permission to rest.
To be.
To play.
We need to be allowed to experiment without having an end goal.
Following our curiosities, exploring ideas, and feeling wonder open up the creative mind and set the imagination free.
These things which were so natural to us as children seem to have been forgotten along the way to adulthood.
Natural Rhythms and Cycles
Embarking on the creative life is a journey of self-discovery.
Through creativity, we get to know who we are at our core.
We learn our likes and dislikes, what gives us energy and what drains it, how we work best and who we work best with, spaces and places that draw us in and those that repel us.
We also learn our own energetic patterns.
Some of us may have a writing routine which includes writing daily and then going on a two-hour solo date on the weekend, à la Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, and this is their perfect balance.
Others may lock in for 4 weeks straight with their writing, coming up for air at the end of the month and taking a week off.
Some may alternate their schedule, writing for an hour after work one day and reading for an hour the next.
Everyone’s rhythm is going to be unique to their own energetic signatures.
It is the work of the creative to find what routine best supports them and their creative process.
Concluding Thoughts
We have been conditioned to believe that in order to lead a creative life, we must be constantly showing up, presenting our finished pieces, selling said creations by the dozen, with a massive social media following to boot.
However, that is not a sustainable life or practice.
A relaxed mind and regulated nervous system are what can make a creative routine sustainable.
One way to welcome in this sense of ease, grace, and softness is to give yourself permission to fill your creative cup up without the pressure of turning the experience into a creation itself.
Let receptivity and feeling good be the end goal.
It is not selfish to receive.
It is not an indulgence.
It is not a luxury.
It is the staple of a creative life.
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About The Author
Nicole Plumridge is the author of three books, including an Amazon bestselling debut novel.
Her work has appeared in The Poetryhood and Half-Light Magazine.
She is also a creativity and book coach who supports creatives in building creative practices and reconnecting with their inner magic.
Connect with Nicole and book a discovery call if your creativity is calling you.
Website: https://nicoleplumridgecoaching.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authornicoleplumridge
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-plumridge-39512368
